If the first two matches between San Miguel and Meralco are any indication, Game 3 on Sunday, June 9, would be another thriller.
It is now down to a best-of-five in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup title duel between San Miguel and Meralco.
After the Bolts and the Beermen split their first two outings of the race-to-four series, it appears fans are in for another treat in Game 3 on Sunday, June 9.
After losing to defensive-minded Meralco in the opener, 86-93, San Miguel made the right adjustments in Game 2 and leaned on CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter in the clutch to hammer out the equalizer via a 95-94 decision last Friday, June 7.
[RELATED STORY: IN PHOTOS: San Miguel steals PBA Finals Game 2 from Meralco behind last-minute heroics]
Beermen chief tactician Jorge Gallent could not help but feel pleased after his wards limited their turnovers to 10 after a woeful 19 in Game 1.
“What’s nice about now is we have 10 turnovers after 19 noong first game. 'Yun 'yung improvement from Game 1,” said Gallent after the match at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Gallent hopes to keep it that way in Game 3, which kicks off at 6:15 p.m. also at the Big Dome.
San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent gives out instructions during Game 2. | Photo (c) Sherwin Vardeleon
But he is under no illusion that the Bolts, gunning for their first-ever title, are just going to roll over and die.
“Meralco is a tough team. They really grind hard and their energy is really high. We just have to match their energy,” said Gallent.
[RELATED STORY: PBA: When the going gets tough, San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent has full trust on CJ Perez, Marcio Lassiter]
“You can see naman, if our energy goes down, that's the time they pull up. We just have to play 48 minutes of basketball.”
While the thought of blowing a chance to go up 2-0 stung, Meralco coach Luigi Trillo remained optimistic knowing his team has held its own against the favored Beermen.
Meralco mentor Luigi Trillo directs the Bolts from the sidelines in Game 2. | Photo (c) Sherwin Vardeleon
Trillo was on point.
The Bolts have been nothing short of spectacular on both ends of the floor. They even had a legitimate chance to go up 2-0 after leading by four points in the waning minutes before Perez and Lassiter's endgame heroics.
“We’re not going to sweep San Miguel, 'di ba? So, every game, you want to bring your A-game. You want to fight. You want to have less breakdowns,” Trillo said.
“I thought we played good enough that we could have won this game. We could have been up 2-0. But talagang may mga ganoon, eh. Masakit talaga, right?”
[RELATED STORY: PBA: Cliff Hodge remains upbeat as Meralco, San Miguel go back to square one heading to Game 3]
It was something Trillo and the rest of the Bolts hope to build on.
“We’ll respond on Sunday. We have to be clinical rather than critical at this point para ma-clean up natin ang mga mali,” he said.